Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Why did Dr. Oz lose? well, according to the exit polls, it’s because Fetterman won.

Infrastructure week. at last.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

You cannot shame the shameless.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

This blog will pay for itself.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

No one could have predicted…

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I was promised a recession.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Open Thread (Update with More Tunch)

Reader Interactions

113Comments

  3. 3.

    Laura W

    Boiled Kale and Brussels Sprouts for dinner with prawns sauteed in garlic, ginger, and Chinese 5-Spice.
    Pups are adorable. Guesly is still my heart throb. Just wanna bite that nose off. But not in a sadistic way.

  4. 4.

    valdivia

    thanks John! I love Tunch. (the puppies are great too but Tunch owns my heart) Hope his vet visit goes well.

  5. 5.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Tuuuuuunch. Soooooooft.

    Just a regular checkup at the vet, I hope?

  6. 6.

    JL

    Tunch is losing weight or the furminator works wonders. I just clicked to the furminator ad and I couldn’t help but notice

    List Price: $34.95 – $59.95
    Price: $12.00 – $159.99

    John that is quite a commision.

  9. 9.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Yer cats head seems too small for its body. Is it the camera angle or did you compensate for yourself when picking a cat?

  16. 16.

    demkat620

    Well high comedy on Good Friday, Karl Rove calling anybody a liar is just a perfect capper for this day.

  17. 17.

    Anne

    Always a happy day when we see The Tunchinator.

    UTIs can be a problem with both boy and girl kitties. Hope all is well with our fab fluffy friend. Are you wearing your kevlar outfit to the vet?

  18. 18.

    ellie

    Look at the lovely kitty! I hope you tell him how beautiful he is. The puppies are all kinds of cute, too.

  19. 19.

    Jrod

    I asked this in the state secrets thread, but I guess it was already dead. So, I’ll ask it here.

    Why is it a horrible crime when Paul Krugman criticizes Obama from the left, but it’s totally cool when Jake Tapper does it?

  20. 20.

    Anne

    Always a happy day when we see The Tunchinator.

    UTIs can be a problem with the boy kitties. Hope all is well with our fab fluffy friend. Are you wearing your kevlar outfit to the vet?

  21. 21.

    John Cole

    @Jrod: It isn’t a horrid crime when Krugman attacks him from the left. What most of us have a problem with Krugman is his complete and total inability to factor in the politics of any given situation. Yeah. We would probably have gotten a spending bill twice the size of the stimulus, Paul. Whatever.

    Also, has anyone had the Haagen-Dazs Orchard Peach Sorbet- it is lethal good.

  22. 22.

    Library Grape

    If anyone’s interested, I composed a long post today on my struggle to find my way out of the conservative wilderness that some of you might find interesting at http://www.librarygrape.com/2009/04/testament-from-someone-who-lost-faith.html .

    Yes I realize this is a shameless plug but I promise quotes like this about Bush’s wrecking of the economy and the serious burdens imposed on the Obama administration:

    It is as if an arsonist mayor spent eight years burning down a city block and then the city council complains that the new mayor is asking the council for money to rebuild.

  23. 23.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    John, is it too early for comparable before and after shots of Tunch? He really does seem slimmer, but I haven’t seen him in a meatloaf (1) pose for a while, so it’s hard to say. I’m trying to get rid of some of my winter flab and I need the inspiration.

    (1)That’s a small "m" meatloaf, as in B. Kliban, not a big "M" Meatloaf, as in Mr. Loaf.

  26. 26.

    Bob In Pacifica

    On the local SF Bay Area FOX affiliate they call President Obama "Mister Obama" whereas the other networks call him "President Obama." It’s bugging me.

  27. 27.

    Jrod

    Hmm, well from here in the far-flung future, I don’t see any political damage that Krugman did. We have Gingrinch flat out saying that Obama is trying to become a dictator while everyone else on the right is busy making signs for their tea-baggery. "Even Paul Krugman" has been forgotten in favor of just calling Obongo the new Hitler.

    Also, Krugman was, you know, correct. Any "politcal damage" he did would be to reduce support for Obama and Geithner’s plan to give a few more hundreds of billions to banks so that they don’t have to let their hard-working looters go bonusless.

    We need smart people who call it like they see it without worrying about political considerations. Obama is the most skilled politician this nation has seen in generations. He can handle it.

    Oh, and cute cat. Reminds me of my kitty when I was a kid. Well, yours seems far sweeter and kinder, but hell-raisers can be cute too.

  31. 31.

    Jrod

    @Bob In Pacifica: I’m trying to imagine the right-whine outrage if any station in the country had ever called Bush "Mr. Bush," rather than "The Great President Bush, Commander-in-Chief of the Americas."

    Not that any station would ever do that, because as we all know failing to properly defer to the right is the kiss of death. What TV station can stand without Charlie Johnson’s support?

  32. 32.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    I LOVE peaches. I can even take faux peach, like those awesome sour chewy peach sour things. Faux raspberry in gum and candy and drinks? Feh! But somehow peach in all its glory can survive just about any transmogrification.

  35. 35.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Jrod: Thanks for this post. I may be a tad defensive because Paul Krugman is my economic crush, but I think Obama needs voices from the left pushing hard at him. He may not heed them, but he should at least hear them.

    I understand that what Paul Krugman advocates is not pragmatic, but if it is what the economy really needs (which, I will be the first to admit, I do not know), then it should at least be stated–repeatedly. I don’t want any more ‘How could we have known?’ moments, thank you, very much. Eight years full of them is more than enough. Let’s get all the ideas out on the table and go from there.

    P.S. I am lactose intolerant, so it’s Purely Decadent for me.

    http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/purely_decadent.html

    The peanut butter chocolate is my fave. The closest I’ve had to real ice cream.

  36. 36.

    Laura W

    This is for Bad Horse’s Filly, Nicole, JenJen and TMYK (Maybe Cleek should create a Kangoo Jumps pie filter for the rest of you till we get over our beginner’s obsession?)

    12 Things I learned today about Kangoo Jumps:

    1) They work better on carpet than faux linoleum. Slick floors are treacherous for beginners. Traction helps.
    2) Trying to get up from a couch with them on must be what it is like to try to get up from a couch when pregnant. Awkward and impossible without a crane or forklift.
    3) Invest in a heavy duty jog bra.
    4) Make the dog lie down yards away from you when jumping otherwise she will body block your ass.
    5 They freak the shit out of cats.
    6) It’s cool to pretend you are 6′ tall!
    7) Be sure there are NO rocks or pebbles in your path in the carport because they will screw up your groove and make you stumble.
    8) Do NOT look at your reflection in the side of the car ‘cuz it will disorient you and make you stumble.
    9) When transitioning from the perfect song to a less perfect song, the beat change will make you stumble.
    10) Just do jogging in place for 20 min. for your first time out and be proud of your efforts. Don’t even try to figure out how all of those buff, cool people on tape do knee raises, lateral leg swings, and RUN on them, for fuck’s sake.
    11) That unfamiliar pain you are feeling in regions you don’t recognize is called "inner thigh", "quads" and "glutes".
    12) Have an ice pack ready for the knees once you are done. You will be really grateful you did.

    Hope this helps!

  39. 39.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Glenn Beck has an endorsement contract with Purina One. Perhaps this would be a good food to consider for everybody’s dogs. I do not know if Purina One makes food for cats, but I am sure that, if they do, it is very good cat-food.

  40. 40.

    Montysano

    @John Cole:

    Just a checkup, although he has been acting weird the past couple of days.

    Taking a cat to the vet when he acts weird? That could get expensive.

  41. 41.

    JenJen

    @Laura W: I have to admit here that I do not know what it feels like to get off a couch while pregnant; ergo, not sure this is a great endorsement for your beloved Kangoos. ;-)

  44. 44.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I saw it and cried all the way through it. Thought I was gonna lose my mind.

  45. 45.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Ooops, my bad. It was another movie I saw that made me cry. I’m all better now.

  46. 46.

    Little Dreamer

    Glenn Beck has an endorsement contract with Purina One. Perhaps this would be a good food to consider for everybody’s dogs. I do not know if Purina One makes food for cats, but I am sure that, if they do, it is very good cat-food.

    Sorry, I learned what’s in that shit and I no longer feed it to my cat. You’re nuts (but of course, we already knew that.)

    IAMS only for my little furball from now on.

  47. 47.

    icedfire

    @Montysano:

    There’s a particular kind of weirdness when a kitteh might not be feeling well, as opposed to the "I have moths in my head and I’m going to chase them externally" normal kind of weird.

  48. 48.

    Dennis-SGMM

    The woman: Janis Joplin, Half Moon, live

    One thing about Janis, in her pics and her videos she looks kinda like a truck driver. On stage, in person, she was the sexiest woman in the entire world.

  49. 49.

    DanSmoot'sGhost

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    Purina One is good if you don’t want your cat to live longer than about ten years, or like to clean big wet loose stools out of the catbox. And like to feed the cat twice as much because the animal will have to eat more to make up for the lost nutrition. And have the cat get a stiffer, duller coat.

    But try your own experiment. Feed a cat Purina One for 4 months and then switch it to IAMS and see what happens.

    Draw your own conclusions.

  50. 50.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Tunch looks like he’s about to kick some ass. As usual.

    Taking a cat to the vet when he acts weird? That could get expensive.

    Yeah, going to the ER for stitches and blood transfusions can really add up.

  52. 52.

    asiangrrlMN

    I am a lefty, granola-crunchin’, free-range chicken munchin’ librul, so I only feed my cats food like PetPromise and such (not so much of the nasty by-products). Yeah, they are spoiled buggers. So what?

    And for those of you getting your groove on tonight: A little Barry White.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-zaA-OZsVY

  55. 55.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Laura W: Melissa Etheridge, sexy before the whole Rick Warren fiasco. Joss Stone, not sexy. Melissa totally shredded Joss to bits in this duet.

  58. 58.

    Laura W

    @asiangrrlMN: Wow. I don’t see it as a competition at all. I think they both brought equal power and grace to the whole production. Why pitch them against one another? I can watch that every day and still feel inspired. I think Joss is amazing for her age and stage in life, and Melissa, what can be said about her power and grace at that particular age and stage in life?

    I’m surprised that you would make it into a duel between those two equally gifted women. Why does anyone have to shred or prevail against the other? I thought it was a stunning collaboration.

  59. 59.

    JR

    So, Tunch is a Turkish Van, right? (No, I’m not about to make a joke about a van) Does he enjoy being in water or is that just an exaggeration about Turkish Vans?

  65. 65.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Laura W: I didn’t see it as a competition. I just didn’t think Joss was up to the duet. Her voice is not my style at all. I wished they would have picked someone different.

  66. 66.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Laura W:
    Thank you. I hadn’t seen that before. I actually met Janis at a party up in Boulder Creek, CA. There I was, at the height of my powers, a perpetual Person of Interest to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department, and when I met her all I could say was "Homina-homina-homina."

  69. 69.

    AnneLaurie

    Today DH was leaving the house to meet me for lunch and a truck went speeding down the street barely missing another cat. He was so mad he went chasing after the SOB to try and catch him but to no avail.

    LitleBitBrit, I don’t know what the laws or the neighbors are like in your area, but there have been stories in the local NE news about people trying to discourage speeders by:

    (a) taking pictures/videos of speeders, including their plates, and forwarding them to the local police

    (b) posting eye-catching "Speed Kills, Please Don’t" signs — in one case, the town sponsored a competition at the local middle schools & made up weatherproof versions of the winning posters

    (c) mounting video cameras, or FAKE videocameras, prominently near the danger zones

    There are no guarantees against the hardcore idiots, but sometimes civil-action stuff like this can at least remind enough people to slow down that it makes an actual difference in traffic speed, believe it or not. Sometimes!

  70. 70.

    Nicole

    @Laura W: And you know, I hopped onto this thread hoping you’d post a review of the Kangoos.

    Hmm… so were your knees sore like muscle sore or like joint sore? I was very interested in the claims on the site that it minimizes joint stress. Did you feel it did at all?

    And Friday Night Lights had a most excellent season finale. I finally forgive for all of Season Two.

  71. 71.

    The Moar You Know

    @JR: Tunch is not a Turkish Van. The tail on a van looks almost like a raccoon’s.

    My Van, Piglet, went off to kitty heaven many years ago, but the stories about them liking water are not exaggerated. Piglet would get in the tub with me and paddle around.

  72. 72.

    Laura W

    @Nicole:

    Hmm… so were your knees sore like muscle sore or like joint sore? I was very interested in the claims on the site that it minimizes joint stress. Did you feel it did at all?

    Oh Christ. How would I possibly know the difference? But I’ve not run or done high impact aerobics for several years, so maybe it’s all relative to that?

    My left knee was very painful on the inside, but I iced it for half an hour and it’s fine now. Phew. So maybe muscle? I can promise you that you/I use muscle groups I’ve not used in years, despite power walking every day, including some pretty good hill work. I think my springs are too stiff, and I know there are things you can to about that, but I’ll just get used to the whole scene for a while and get my bearings. I gotta believe they are great for the body in many ways, however.

    I ended up being very good at step aerobics back in the day once I caught on to the moves and the rhythm, so I suspect this is much the same. Just takes time to get into the groove.

  74. 74.

    Laura W

    @The Moar You Know: I thought of you today with every hesitant step I took on my Kangoos thinking: "If I fall now and break my ankle/nose/teeth/shouler/wrist/hip, The Moar You Know is so gonna rub this in my face."
    Seriously. You haunted me.

  75. 75.

    Shibby

    In non pet related news. My grandmother was on CBS news tonight with Katie Couric for becoming bat mitzvah at the age of 90. You can actually see a whole bunch of my relatives (and even me) in the background. Fun stuff.

    NY times article here.

  77. 77.

    Library Grape

    Rachel Maddow just blew my mind. I can’t stop laughing. She just did a quick quip on the National Organization for Marriage’s new "2 Million for Marriage" campaign that they themselves branded "2M4M":

    Have you ever read personals ads? Have you ever just browsed through Craigslist? Ever, I don’t know, googled "M4M"? For the "anti-gay marriage group!? If you don’t know what the abbreviation "M4M" stands for, I do not want to spoil your Googling fun, but here’s a hint: the related search that Google suggests is for the website Manhunt. You know, maybe these folks should just join up with the Teabaggers.

    Hilarious!

  79. 79.

    The Moar You Know

    @Laura W: No! I’m really not that kind of guy. I’d be horrified. But hey, if you were a little more careful on them because of me, well and good.

    Frankly, those things do weird me out a little because they look like the sort of sporting equipment that would send me to the ER in about five minutes; I have a balance problem.

  80. 80.

    gex

    @Little Dreamer: I refuse to buy any of the brands that were part of the melamine recall – I believe Iams was one of the brands. Science Diet too.

    No – I’m the kind of DFH that buys an organic brand of cat food and dog food (3 kitties, 1 dog) that meets the AAFCO nutritional standards. No kidney killing plastic food for my pets.

  81. 81.

    asiangrrlMN

    @gex: Apparently, I am a DFH even though I don’t like patchouli or Birkenstocks. I eat organic food (mostly), and so do my cats. In fact, they eat better than I do.

    P.S. I only know what a DFH is from this site, so thank you.

  82. 82.

    Delia

    @gex:

    It was the wet Iams in the little sealed pouches that was poisoned with melamine. I used to feed my kitties Iams dry food because I thought it was high quality. About six months before the whole poisoning thing happened they gave me a couple of those pouches in the bag of dry food and I fed them to my cats. That lot was fine, but it freaked me out later on when the problems hit. Then I found out that Iams, which you pay a premium price for, is made at the same factory as the Walmart house brand. So I’m now feeding them Felidae, which I buy at a local pet store and which doesn’t have any corn meal, which cats and dogs can’t digest anyhow, or wheat, or those animal byproducts that have no nutrition in them, either. It’s made completely in the US of natural ingredients and costs about the same as Iams.

    You should always read the ingredients and especially avoid corn meal in your pet foods. That’s what gives them the runs.

  83. 83.

    gex

    @Delia: Fair enough. But I don’t buy food from any company that doesn’t know what the fuck their food is made of. It sounds like you’ve discovered other issues with their quality anyhow.

    @asiangrrlMN: Queer Minnesotan Asians Unite!

  90. 90.

    Shibby

    @JL:

    I’m not actually sure if it is online. I’m planning to hunt for it soon but unfortunately I have a test coming up that I have to study for. I’ll toss a link in an open thread once I find it.

  92. 92.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @Laura W: I popped in hoping you’d have some comments. I agree on the sports bra – I’m going to have to check and see if they make a kevlar version or I’m going to hurt myself.

    I went out in public yesterday and jogged (on a dirt trail, which worked fine). Didn’t see too many people, but they would have laughed their asses off if they saw me trying to get up from my sub-compact after putting them on – next time, park bench.

    Friend emailed me last night wanting to know if running in them was gazelle like. She had this picture of me leaping like a gazelle through the local landscape. Umm, no. More like jogging through knee deep sand – bouncy sand – but sand all the same. In 20 minutes I covered half the distance I would if I ran without, but definitely got more than twice the workout.

    And yes, there are parts of my body that are suprisingly sore, considering how much other activity I do (I cycle an hour a day – 2 to 3 on weekends when I can).

    And if you can dance in them, you get the PRIZE my kangoo friend! My first night I just jogged in place in the living room – once I tried a fancy step and almost killed myself. Graceful I am not.

    All in all, really like them and an impressive workout in a short amount of time.

    Kangoo out.

  94. 94.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @John Cole: Those kids are all so cute. It’s odd though, two of my cats are acting out as well and I think they’ve got minor UTIs. I’ve adjusted their diets and it seems to have cleared up, but kinda weird that Tunch is having similar issues.

  96. 96.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @Nicole: Nicole – my experience running was, when I was done the lower half of my body felt like it had been massaged (the muscle pain started this morning – the good kind). My upper body was stiff and sore, which I attributed to not quite trusting my stride yet. No joint pain at all and I have a severe spinal injury that gets jarred if I sneeze too hard – I’m happy to say it is pain free.

  97. 97.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @Laura W: Springs too stiff? You can do what I did – let three big burly guys (who scarily could fit into my kangoos!) try them out at work. Softened those springs right up. (And the first person who twists this into something dirty – well we all know where your mind is at, and can I say, you’re my kind of person).

  99. 99.

    AnneLaurie

    One thing about Janis, in her pics and her videos she looks kinda like a truck driver. On stage, in person, she was the sexiest woman in the entire world.

    Obverse of the way that a lot of "glamorous" movie stars of both sexes seem tiny and somewhat wizened in real life (Tom Cruise gets this a lot, but people said much the same things about Clark Gable & Humphrey Bogart in their day.) How the human eyes & brain convert flat images into three dimensions is only peripherally related to the way we see "real" three-dimensional images.

    P.S. Full moon last night is one reason everyone’s companion animals may have been acting crazy the last few days. I never believed that folk story until I started attending weekly dog training classes on a regular basis, but believe me, you CAN tell if it’s within a few days before/after the big event. Not all animals, but even some top-quality performance dogs would go space cadet.

  103. 103.

    asiangrrlMN

    @gex: I don’t know if you’re still online, my fine, queer Asian brotha, but here’s a video just for you:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5HQ2fOUYws

    P.S. The idiots forgot to register 2M4M . org, so a gay activist did. Yay!

    Background: NOM (National Org. for/of/to Marriage) put out a scare video about same-sex marriage. This is a mash-up.

    All the ladies out there: A good sports-bra is a MUST when doing bouncing-type of exercise. I know from experience!

  104. 104.

    Wonk

    @valdivia:

    The Obama Dog blog has a pix of Teddy Kennedy’s new Portie pup that she thought might be the pup destined for the White House here.

    So now obviously, Teddy’s not giving up his own pup to the Obama’s, but I hope their dog looks like that one.

    Almost as cute as Guesley. Love that big giant head, muy scritchable. :)

  105. 105.

    asiangrrlMN

    Ok. I obviously did not circumvent the moderator with my last comment, so…I will try like this.

    The NOM people did not register 2M4Mdotorg, so a gay activist did. Way to be on the ball!

  107. 107.

    bob h

    I had to hit the vet ER last week for my cat, who had a urinary tract blockage. Eventually cost me $1500. How do people of average means even have a pet these days?

  108. 108.

    JL

    @bob h: There is a pet adoption set up near the Trader Joe’s where I shop. The other week there was a long haired dachshund that was three years old. The organization said that they are having lots of former family pets dropped off because they can no longer afford to keep them. I can’t imagine having to let go of my mutt.

  109. 109.

    gex

    @bob h: Pet health insurance.

    I wouldn’t consider it for my indoor cats, but I am for my dog. One leg break at the dog park and whammo! That Xylitol episode cost over $1K as it was.

  110. 110.

    valdivia

    @Wonk:

    thanks wonk. apparently (per TMZ) this is a dog that was returned to the kennel after 6 months and the Kennedys are giving it to the Obamas. the picture you linked is mucho adorable.

    Hope Tunch did well at the vet.

  111. 111.

    Tom

    Anyone else see this post on Jawa Report (thank you memeorandum for opening up a world of idiocy to me!)?

    Apparently, in this pirate hostage standoff, it’s not the life of the hostage that takes precedence, but that America shows "balls."

    Too bad the one hostage was killed. But there are always risks to these things.

    He’s talking about a different Pirate hostage situation in which a French rescue attempt resulted in one hostage was killed, while others were freed. Now, in the US/Pirate standoff, there’s only one hostage. I’m not sure how the US can stage a rescue strike on a lifeboat in which the threat of death for the hostage is not extremely high.

    Of course, he criticizes the Navy for not being in the water waiting to rescue the captain when he briefly jumped into the water — a US military source described it as a "very brief amount of time" that the guy was in the water. Of course, Captain Ed had a similar thought.

    So, are Navy seals supposed to tread water around the lifeboat, waiting to be shot at by the pirates, in case the guy jumped in the water to be rescued?

    Are Navy ships supposed to "board" this lifeboat and attempt to free the captain — if he dies, it’ll be "too bad" but at least we’re showing "balls."

    These guys are such idiots.

  112. 112.

    Nicole

    @Bad Horse’s Filly: Thanks, BH’s Filly and Laura W- I appreciate it. I think I’ll start trolling eBay and look for a pair in my size. It’d be nice to run without my IT band yelling at me the next day. (I do pretty well in my Earth Shoe sneakers, but still usually need to stick to dirt, rather than pavement)

  113. 113.

    Laura W

    @Nicole: I don’t know if you saw BHF and I go back in forth in a thread today (Real World Records, I think) but I was stunned to find I was not sore at all this morning. For all the new muscles worked yesterday? WTF? Taking today off anyway cuz I’m just the type that would do it to excess, ensuring that I could never do it again.

Comments are closed.